Vehicle alarm and pager system

Abstract

A vehicle alarm system ( 20 ) includes an alert transmitter ( 32 ), alert receiver ( 44 ), alert device ( 46 ), arming unit ( 42 ), alarm unit ( 28 ), and alarm device ( 30 ). The alert transmitter ( 32 ), alert receiver ( 44 ), and alert device ( 46 ) are added to the arming unit ( 42 ), alarm unit ( 28 ), and alarm device ( 30 ) of an existing vehicle alarm system to notify a vehicle owner that an alarm condition has occurred when the vehicle owner is beyond audible range of the alarm device ( 30 ). An arming unit power source ( 52 ) and arming unit controls ( 54,56 ) are used to power and control the alert receiver ( 44 ) and alert device ( 46 ), and the arming unit ( 42 ) is coupled with an alert housing ( 50 ) to provide a unitary remote assembly ( 24 ). A pager unit ( 72 ) is provided in the vehicle passenger compartment and transmits a pager signal to the alarm unit ( 28 B). When used with the pager unit ( 72 ), the alert receiver ( 44 ) is replaced with a transceiver ( 74 ) which operates to send an acknowledgment signal ( 80 ) back to the pager unit ( 72 ) to deactivate a pager indicator light ( 76 ). The alert transmitter ( 32 B) is operable to send an encoded wireless signal ( 40 B) to the alert transceiver ( 74 ) to inform the vehicle owner of the nature of the alarm condition that has occurred.

We claim:  
     
       1. A vehicle alarm and pager system for paging remote individuals and for detecting intruders and notifying vehicle operators of the presence of intruders, the vehicle alarm and pager system comprising: 
       an alarm unit for installation on a vehicle and being operable to transmit an alarm signal upon occurrence of an alarm condition;  
       a remote arming unit for accompanying a vehicle operator, and being selectively operable to transmit a wireless arming signal to the alarm unit, and wherein the alarm unit is operable to receive the arming signal and to arm and disarm upon receipt of the arming signal;  
       an alert transmitter for installation on a vehicle, and the alert transmitter being operable to receive the alarm signal from the alarm unit and being further operable to transmit a wireless alert signal upon receipt of the alarm signal;  
       a remote alert transceiver for accompanying a vehicle operator, and the remote alert transceiver being operable to receive the wireless alert signal from the alert transmitter and being further operable to transmit an alert activation signal upon receipt of the wireless alert signal and to transmit a wireless acknowledgment signal to alarm the unit, and the alarm unit being operable to receive the wireless acknowledgment signal;  
       an alarm device for installation on a vehicle and being operable to receive the alarm signal from the alarm unit, and being further operable to emit an alarm upon receipt of the alarm signal, and wherein the alarm unit is operable to deactivate the alarm device upon receipt of the wireless acknowledgment signal from the remote alert transceiver;  
       a remote alert device for accompanying a vehicle operator, and the remote alert device being operable to receive the alert activation signal from the remote alert transceiver and being further operable to generate a user signal to notify the vehicle operator of the alarm condition upon receipt of the alert activation signal; and  
       a remote housing holding the remote arming unit, remote alert transceiver, and remote alert device.  
     
     
       2. The vehicle alarm system according to  claim 1  further comprising a pager unit for being mounted on a vehicle and being operative to transmit a pager signal to the alarm unit, and wherein the alarm unit is operative to receive the pager signal and transmit a notification signal to the alert transmitter upon receipt of the pager signal whereby the remote alert device is activated. 
     
     
       3. The vehicle alarm system according to  claim 2  further comprising a vehicle battery electrically connected to the alarm unit, the alarm device, the alert transmitter, and the pager unit for powering the alarm unit, the alarm device, the alert transmitter, and the pager unit. 
     
     
       4. The vehicle alarm system according to  claim 2  wherein the pager unit includes a pager activation button. 
     
     
       5. The vehicle alarm system according to  claim 2  wherein the pager unit includes a pager activation indicator operative to indicate that the pager signal has been transmitted. 
     
     
       6. The vehicle alarm system according to  claim 5 , wherein the alarm unit is operable to transmit a deactivation signal to the pager unit to deactivate the pager activation indicator upon receipt of the acknowledgment signal from the remote alert transceiver. 
     
     
       7. The vehicle alarm system according to  claim 5 , wherein the pager activation indicator comprises a light. 
     
     
       8. The vehicle alarm system of  claim 2 , wherein the alarm unit transmits both the alarm signal and the notification signal upon receipt of the pager signal. 
     
     
       9. The vehicle alarm system of  claim 2 , wherein the pager unit is selectively operated by an individual from inside the vehicle. 
     
     
       10. The vehicle alarm system according to  claim 1 , wherein the alert transmitter is operable to transmit an encoded wireless alert signal including a selected one of a plurality of codes, the remote alert receiver is operable to receive the encoded wireless alert signal, and the remote alert device is operable to generate a plurality of user signals corresponding to the codes thereby notifying the remote individual of the selected code transmitted in the encoded wireless alert signal. 
     
     
       11. The vehicle alarm system of  claim 1 , wherein the remote alert transceiver comprises a 900 MHz remote alert transceiver, and the remote alert device comprises a selected one of a beeper and a vibrator. 
     
     
       12. The vehicle alarm system of  claim 1 , wherein the remote alert device includes a display. 
     
     
       13. The vehicle alarm system of  claim 1 , wherein the alarm unit is operable to detect and identify a plurality of different alarm conditions, select a code corresponding to an existing alarm condition, and transmit the selected code to the alert transmitter. 
     
     
       14. The vehicle alarm system of  claim 13 , wherein the alarm unit and alert transmitter are operable to update the existing alarm condition.